应该说less than 10 people还是fewer than 10 people？

英文悦读 · 公众号 · 英语 · 2025-05-22 11:18

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up to 10 items "以规避这一问题。

From now on, signs in new stores are to say "up to 10 items" after a long running argument with those who have objected to the use of the word "less" in that context.

Many have argued that the signs ought to read "ten items or fewer" instead of "ten items or less". Their argument is that the word 'fewer' should be used when it refers to quantities that can be counted. 'Less', they say, should refer to quantities that cannot be counted.

关于10 items or less标识问题，美国全国公共广播电台（NPR）曾经做过一个问卷调研。在参与调研的8390人有59%的人认为这一问题无关紧要，而有41%的人认为这是一个语法错误，必须改正。

由此也可以看出人们对于less/fewer用法存在的巨大分歧。

那么，作为英语学习者应该怎么办呢？在日常场合使用可以随意点，只要能够找到权威例证都可以，比如可以说：Less/fewer than 10 people showed up.

但如果是在考试或者学术英语等正式场合，那么还是严格遵守语法规则，比如上面句子要写成： Fewer than 10 people showed up. 如果不确定用哪个，参考词典的例句也是一个最保险的办法。